Destination-sign for street-cars.



PATENTED JULY 21, 1908. I

R. G. TAYLOR. DESTINATION SIGN FOR STREET CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1906.

W iinemsea Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT '0. TAYLOR, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LYTLE -J.nun'rnaor CINCINNATI, OHIO.

cation.

' cators the rollers. Fig; 5 is a front elevation of the citizen of theUnited States, residing .in 1 Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and Statefront plate 3 .and a rear plate4 with end are the rollers 7 and 8 withthe spindles 9- and 10 of these rollers journaled in suitableDESTINATION-SIG? FDR STREET-CARS.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Application filed January 6, 1906. Serial No. 294,926.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT C. TAYLOR, a

of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDestination-Signs for Street-Carsnnd the Like, of which the followingis'a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifi- My improvementsrelate to signs for indicating the destination, route or station forstreet and railway cars, and are more par+ ticularly for traction carsand intended to be mounted in the car in some prominent position toindicate to prospective passengers the route or destination of the cars.

While many of the features of my invention may be employed on any of thewell known constructions of destination indiparticular embodiment-of theinvention illustrated is especially intended for the vestibules oftraction cars and the improvements consist of the certain novelconstruction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter particularlypointed out and claimed whereby a most durable and effect. ive apparatusis obtained, easily manipulated and adapted to take care of the names ofa very large number of stations and embodyin a .number of most effectivefeatures of nove ty and utility.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved apparatusviewed from without the car. Fig. 2, is a similar perspective view ofthe reverse side of the device. Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on thelines 3-3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a section taken on lines 44 of Fig. -1just within the casing showing the driving gears for the arts shown inFig. 4. Fig. '6 is a detail ongitudinal section, broken away at themiddle, of the lower curtain roller. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of oneedge of the curtain. The casing for holding the operating parts is madeup of bottom plate 1, top plate 2,

walls 5 and 6. Mounted within the casing '8 has only a yieldin bearingsin the end walls or in end standards for that. purpose. Upon theserollers is mounted the curtain 11 of suitable flexible fabric upon whichare painted or printed various names to indicate the dilferent'sta tionsor stopping points of the car. This curtain is intended to be Wound fromone roller to the other as the signs are changed, and, for the purposeof driving the rollers gears 12 and 13 are mounted 'on the ends of thespindles 9 and 10, and 14 is an intermediate gear meshing with the gears12 and 13 and driven by the beveled gear 15. engaged by the beveled gear16.0n the crank-shaft 17.

18 is the handle for turning the shaft 17 and this handle is mounted tomove axially on the crank-arnr,.and the inner end 18 of the handleengages the notched disk'19 and is normally held in engagement therewithby the spring 20. In order to turn the rollers to wind the curtain fromone roller to h the other the operator pulls out the handle 18 whichreleases its inner end. from the notched late 19 and allows the rotationof the beve ed gear 16.

The curtain 11 is intended to be of suitable length in order to hold alarge number of in Fig. 6 and a coiled s ring 21 is mounted.

around the spindle 10 with the one end 22 of the spring engaging in theend plate of the roller and the other end 23 secured to the roller orclip 24 mounted on the spindle 10. In this way it will be evident thatthe roller connection with its spindle 10 and not on y will thispermit'one roller to rotate slower or faster than the other as the rollschange in size, but this spring will always provide a'constant tensionon the lower roller to keep the curtain.

always taut.

The .frontwall 3 of the casing is provided with a long opening throughwhich thesigns on the curtain are exhibited, and in order to keep outthe dust and dirt a glass window 25 is secured in front of this opening;the edge of the opening being provided with the usual slots to allow aninsertion of the glass where it. isheld in place by the plate 26fastened over the end of the slot by screws. 1

In destination signs in which acurtain is employed upon which the. namesare printed it has been found difficult heretofore to prevent thecurtain, as it is wound from one roller to the other, shifting laterallyand fraying out or wearing off the edges or stoping the movement of thecurtain altogether. o overcome this difliculty and to enforce therunning true of the curtain I bind a strip of flexible sheet metal 27 ateach edge of the curtain throughout its entire length. These metalstrips can be secured by stitching or by riveting as shown by Fig. 7.Then in connection with these metal bound edges of the curtain I providewide flanges 28, 29 for the two rollers and should the curtain shiftlaterally, as it is being wound from one roller to the other, the metalbound edge bears against the flange of the roller and keeps the curtainin alinement.

In order to keep the curtain in a parallelplane with the window opening,I provide idlers 30, 31 secured across the casing so as to hold thecurtain flush with the window.

For the purpose of illuminating the signs at night I provide in the backof the casing a compartment 32 in which is located an incandescent light33. This light is held in position by the block 34 through which thewires pass; the block being held by the setscrew 35. The opening for theblock 34 is of large enough diameter to ermit the withdrawing of theentire light t rough the opening without cutting wires or disconnectingsame when it is desired for any reason to remove the sign.

In order to hold the sign in proper position within the vestibule of thetraction car, I

provide flanged plates36, 37 secured lengthwise of the top and bottomplates 2 and 3' of the casing, and'the casing is made of such size thatthese flanged plates will have a suitable bearing on the rails'of thevestibule window-frame so that the sign can be conveniently securedtheretov v The operating handle and gearing for the rolls is covered bythe casing 38, which is locked shut by the .hasp 39 and is pivoted at K40 to the end wall 5 of the main caslng. This end wall 5 is in itselfhinged at 41 to the front wall 3 so that when desired the entire end ofthe casing may be opened for the removal of the curtain rollers andoperating parts. It

being understood that the entire operatin mechanism is merely slid intothe casing an then secured in position by suitable screws.

The rear or back wall of the casing is provided with the sliding door42, operated by handle 43 so that the operator can get at the curtainshould occasion require and so that the operator can also'see the signfrom the reverse side in order that he may assure himself that he hasthe right sign indicated.

The operation of the indicator will be evident from the foregoingdescription. When the destination of the c'ar is changed, the operatoropens the casing 38, and drawing the handle 18 outwardly to release itfrom the plate 19, he then turns the handle and winds the rollersin-either direction desired to bring the required sign to the window. Bydriving each roller direct by gearing, and providing for the springconnection between roller and spindle, any length of curtain con-'taining as high as seventy-five or eighty names may be employed, the sring permitting the rollers to rotate. at di erent'speeds,

and the curtain to be kept always taut.

The employment of the flexible, metallic strips, or ribbon, at the edgeof the curtain is also of prime importance, as with a curtain of anylength, it is usually almost impossible to prevent the curtain runningaskew, but with the metallic edge for the curtain, and the flanges onthe rollers for the edge to bear against, the curtain even withseventy-five or eighty names can be run with perfect alinement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by LettersPatent, is:

In a destination indicator, the combination of a casing, rollers mountedtherein, said rollers being provided with end flanges, a curtain mountedon said rollers having a longitudinal series of transversely arrangednames, and adapted to be wound from one ,roller to the' other, flexiblemetal strips mounted on the side edges of the curtain and adapted toslide or bear against the faces of the flanges on the rollers so as to'guide the arts of the curtain that are immediately caving and enteringupon the respective rollers, and means for rotating the rollers to Windthe curtain from one roller to the'other.

ROBERT C. TAYLOR.

